hello, blue mountain beach!

I saw beautiful pictures of Destin, Florida on Instagram (no doubt some sort of ad, and it worked!) and I knew we had our next beach vacation!  I've never been to the Emerald Coast, and now having been there, I am absolutely smitten with the beach, and town, and little shops, and incredible seafood restaurants.  Sure, Galveston is an hour's drive from Houston, but it's not the best beach.  We go when we need some salt water in our faces and sand in our shoes, but I wanted the white sugar sand and clear water I saw on Instagram, and Blue Mountain Beach delivered.

Memaw, Britton, and Barrett, not even one hour after arriving (below)!  The drive was about 10 hours for us which, after the 19 hours total to get to the Grand Canyon in Spring Break, didn't seem too long of a drive.

We went to the beach every morning, and stayed until lunchtime.  Then we'd walk back to the house (about 70 feet from the beach access), get lunch, cool off, and then head back after more sunscreen.  We really lucked out because the week prior was rainy, but we only had one afternoon of rain!

When I remember my days at the beach as a kid, I remember drip castles.  The sand is so fine here though, that the instant it dries the entire thing comes crashing down.  

We "buried" Britton in the sand, but she got wiggly and came busting out right after I got a picture!

We were diligent with sunscreen, but both kids still ended up with some pink faces.  And that's ok, because they were truly "sun-kissed" beach cuties!

Can you talk about a beach vacation and not mention food?  I don't know if it's the salt in the air or being in the sun and fresh air, but it seemed like we were always hungry!  We spent afternoons taking a snack break at the ice cream shops.

And we went out twice for seafood dinners!  One night the hubs and I went to the seafood market and got enough shrimp, fish, and scallops to feed everyone at home.  

Barrett is a fried shrimp guy

And Britton loves crab legs!

We decided to spend one morning playing mini-golf in Panama City, and it was fun but oh so hot!  I love mini-golf, and this place had an entertaining "pirate" theme.

Some glamour shots of the beach!  We went to watch the sunsets, and every evening there were families taking professional portraits at the water's edge, and groups having bonfires, and couples strolling down the beach.  The beach is just magical at sunset.

I think it's safe to say that we've found our forever beach spot in Blue Mountain Beach!  The hubs and I kept saying that our brains couldn't comprehend the beauty of this water, and I think it really does rival the water in the Caribbean.